May 20, 2005 – The more type restaurants fast food in a neighborhood or region, the greater the incidence of mortality and hospitalization attributable to cardiovascular events.
This relationship, which is not however a cause and effect relationship, was discovered by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.1, Ontario. They determined, from official 2001 data from the Ministry of Health, the incidence of deaths and hospitalizations attributable to acute coronary syndromes (heart attacks, infarctions, chest pains, etc.) in 380 sub-regions. Ontario with at least one branch of one of the nine chains of fast food selected.
The results showed a clear relationship between the rate of coronary syndromes and the proportion of fast-food restaurants, in both poor and richer neighborhoods. Thus, in regions with 10 to 19 of these restaurants, the mortality rate increased by 35%, and the hospitalization rate by 28%. Where there were more than 20 establishments, these rates increased by 62% and 47% respectively.
These results have made the restaurant industry jump. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CASARA) called the study biased2. According to its leaders, no cause and effect link has been demonstrated between the ratio of fast food restaurants by region and the number of deaths or hospitalizations.
The study’s lead author, David Alter, admits this up front. According to him, the presence of many fast-food restaurants would rather be an indicator of a general lifestyle that would make people more at risk of cardiovascular disease.
Also, David Alter insists on “the need to orient health promotion and prevention initiatives in the most vulnerable communities”, which are often those which have a high proportion of restaurants. fast food.
Martin LaSalle – PasseportSanté.net
According to The Globe and Mail and The duty.
1. A brief description of the study is available at: www.ices.on.ca.
2. To access the press release issued on May 11, 2005 by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA): www.crfa.ca.
